Futures Poke Furtively Up

Aecon, Kirkland Lake Gold in Focus

Futures pointed to a higher opening for Canada's main stock index on Tuesday as gold prices rose, with the U.S. dollar falling on expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will slow its pace of raising interest rates after this week's meeting.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 243.88 points, or 1.7%, to close Monday at 14,351.19

The Canadian dollar inched up 0.05 cents at 74.60 U.S. early Tuesday

December futures were up 0.4% Tuesday.

Canaccord Genuity raised the target price on Aecon Group to $24.00 from $23.00

RBC raised the target price on Kirkland Lake Gold to $38.00 from $33.00

CIBC cut the target price on Painted Pony Energy to $2.75 from $3.25

Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz said on Monday that the pace of interest rate hikes in Canada could be interrupted or sped up depending on the economic circumstances.

On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported that the number of Canadians drawing regular employment insurance benefits fell for a third consecutive month, down 6,500 or 1.5% from September to 439,600 in October.

Elsewhere, manufacturing sales edged down 0.1% in October to $58.2 billion, following four increases in the previous five months.

Lower sales at wood product and primary metal industries were largely offset by higher sales at food and machinery industries.

U.S. futures pointed to a partial recovery for the three major stock indexes at Tuesday’s open after a steep stock selloff in the prior session.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 155 points, or 0.7%, to 23,840

Futures for the S&P 500 picked up 17.5 points, or 0.7%, to 2,573.25,

The Dow and S&P 500, which are both in corrections, are on track for their worst December performance since the Great Depression in 1931, down more than 7% so far for the month. The S&P 500 is now in the red for 2018 by 4%.

The Federal Reserve is widely expected to hike its benchmark overnight lending rate for a fourth and final time of 2018 when it concludes a two-day policy meeting on Wednesday. While fears of rising interest rates have spooked markets throughout the year, such concerns have heightened over the past month as inflation and growth expectations recede.

Overseas, in Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell 1.8% Tuesday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index lost 1.1%.